A/N: All right, I watched 7x22 today and jeez, our boy took quite the beating, right? First that bomb, then the bullet, then the fight with Campbell...
I noticed that Danny was gone as soon as Steve went after Campbell so naturally I thought he went after Steve and found him :D
Basically, I tried to fill the gap between Steve passing out and then being back at the office.
Everybody needs a partner to stand right by their side. Not only down for the good times. But also down through the bad times. - Will Smith
"Steve? Steve! C'mon, babe, open those eyes."
Why was it that he always woke up to Danny's voice if he got knocked out?
Steve groaned, blinked heavily and finally focused on Danny's face, "Danno?"
"There you are. Just stay still for –"
Steve didn't even let him finish, but pushed himself up onto his elbows. Jesus Christ, everything hurt.
"Of course you won't stay still. Contrary to what you might think, you are not actually indestructible! You took a bullet to the chest today and then I found you here, passed out, the bad guy impaled on a rebar, your blood everywhere around here. That piece of plastic that's splattered with blood? Did you get chocked? You did, didn't you? Huh?"
"Danno..."
"Don't you Danno me!"
Steve smiled despite himself. His partner was one hell of a guy that was for sure. Leave it up to him to talk his head off in a rant when he finds a dead guy and his partner bleeding all over the place. Talking of bleeding, his head really hurt. And he still was sort of dizzy, that plastic foil really had been a bitch.
Steve wanted to get up, shake it off and get back to work, he honestly wanted to, but his body just didn't cooperate. Suddenly, without having actively decided it, Steve sunk back to the floor, finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open.
"Steve?"
Danny was right in his face again, by now keeling next to his shoulder instead of crouching next to him. "Hey, stay with me."
Danny's hand found its way to his shoulder, squeezing gently and then made quick work of the fastener of his vest, "Let's get this off, make it easier to breathe, okay?"
Steve nodded and tried to shimmy his way out off the vest, Danny helping to shift it from his shoulder.
"Talk to me, Steve. I haven't called for an ambulance yet, 'cause I know you. But honestly, babe, you need one?" Danny's fingers were on his pulse again, the other hand resting lightly on his chest, anchoring him.
"No, no. I just – I just need to catch my breath," Steve said and tried to do just that. Breathing, trying to calm down and get things working again. He settled his hand over Danny's, patting the fingers before just resting his hand over his partner's calloused fingers.
Danny nodded, took his fingers off of Steve's neck and tapped his earpiece, "I got Steve. He's pretty beaten up, but we're okay. Give us a few minutes."
Steve blinked gratefully and swiped a hand over his brow, fingers coming away red and sticky with blood.
"Yeah, you're bleeding pretty good, there. I can make out two cuts and your nose also added to the mess. Is it broken?" Danny asked with a furrowed brow.
"No, I don't think so. Took some hits but I didn't feel it crack," Steve said and took a deep breath. "All right, help me up."
"You sure?
"Yeah, help me up?"
Danny sighed but took Steve's hand nevertheless, pulling him up on his feet in one smooth motion.
Steve got his feet sorted out beneath him, locked his knees and hoped for the best. That tumble that he had taken over that fruit stand and then through the glass door had left a pretty good bump on the back of his head. If he was honest with himself, he probably had a concussion.
Danny's grip on his arms was relentless, basically keeping him up at this point.
"Deep breaths, Steve, deep breaths. If you pass out again, I will call that ambulance, got that? Work with me, here."
For once in his life, he should really listen to Danny. Steve took a deep breath in through his nose and slowly let it back out through his mouth, hoping to get rid of the darkness lingering at the edge of his vision and quell the nausea at the same time.
"Okay, that looks better. How're you doing?"
"'m all right."
"Sure you are," he heard Danny sigh and then was suddenly settled against the left side of him. Danny had hauled his arm up over his shoulders and was ready to take his weight if he had to. That position was always kind of awkward, Danny being those inches shorter than he was, but it was familiar at the same time. Steve guessed it was a bad sign if being propped up against his partner was a familiar feeling, a feeling of safety. Shit, what was he even thinking about? Concussion, right. Steve gingerly felt for the bump that he knew had to be there somewhere and found it quickly. He hissed and got his fingers away from there, sneaking a look if he had bloody fingers – he had.
"Damnit, babe, are you bleeding on the back of your head, too?" Danny asked and leaned back to get a look at Steve's head. "Aw, man, what happened?"
"Got thrown over a fruit stand, then through that glass door," Steve nodded into the direction of the shattered door and winced.
"So you got shot, thrown over and through several things, got choked, took more than a few hits everywhere... did I forget anything?" Danny said and slowly started shuffling them out of the hangar.
"Well, he came after me with that pipe but, well, he got rebar-ed before he could do a lot of damage," Steve managed to grin down at Danny.
"A lot of –? More damage, you mean, right? Look at you, Steve, you're beat up as hell! Any other person would be on their way to hospital now, most likely still unconscious and happy to rest up for a week or two!" Danny had actually stopped and turned to look at him while he said that.
"Good thing, I'm not any other person, right?" Steve asked, smirked at his partner, showing off the bloodied teeth and split lip.
"You're unbelievable. Let's get you to Noelani and patched up, you can explain why we use her again instead of doctors that actually deal with living people," Danny grunted, got them moving again and patted Steve's chest absentmindedly.
Steve blinked, sighed and let himself get settled into the Camaro that the rest of the team had driven there but respectfully had waited outside of the hangar until the two of them had found their way out.
No matter how the rants sounded to other people, Steve knew that it just masked Danno's concern for him – he could hear it in every word, every syllable his partner uttered. He knew that he had his back – and not just Danny, but his whole Five-Ohana.